CD Rack with dual disc case holder

ABSTRACT

A high capacity motorized rack holds a plurality of jewel case enclosed CDs in holders flexibly inter-connectable with each other to form a rotatable continuous loop. The loop is rotatably retained within a vertical rack housing and is driven by a motor, disposed within the housing, under user control such that the loop is rotated until a desired CD is moved to the top region of the belt. A rack may hold two or more such loops of inter-connected holders. In one embodiment a holder retains a single jewel case, and comprises two independent loops that are rotated with a single motor. A preferred embodiment employs inter-connectable holders that each retain two jewel cases in a side-by-side configuration. A lamp and/or barcode scanner may be disposed on the housing for ease of CD selection. The housing base preferably is detached during shipping to permit transporting the rack in a smaller volume container. User control can include voice commands to direct loop rotation and speed.

PRIORITY CLAIM AND CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/721,001,filed Nov. 22, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,088, which in turn is acontinuation of Ser. No. 09/625,228, filed Jul. 24, 2000 now U.S. Pat.No. 6,786,338, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.09/240,308, filed Jan. 29, 1999, now abandoned. Priority is claimed toall of the above references. All of the above references are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to racks for holding objectssuch as compact discs and other similar items, and more specifically toproviding a motorized rack that can retain and display over one hundredcompact disks (CDs), and preferably two hundred or more CDs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

CD holders having no moving parts and in the form of vertical towers orhorizontal cabinets are known. But when a large quantity of CDs isstored, it can be difficult to display and select a desired CD,especially if the desired CD is stored in the lower portion of avertical tower.

Applicants' parent application disclosed a motorized modular CD storagedevice or rack that could store a great many CDs or the like in arotatable rack that could be rotated until the desired CD was displayed,at which time rotation could be stopped and the desired CD removed fromthe rack.

Notwithstanding that the disclosed rack could store a great many CDs orother objects and has met with great consumer success, there is a needfor a rack with at least double the storage of the disclosed rack.Further, since CDs are often used in an environment with subdued ambientlighting, there is a need for a CD rack that can illuminate CDs retainedby the rack, for ease of selection in such an environment. There is aneed to promote ease of such of use of such racks, enlarged orotherwise, by providing an option for foot-operable variable speed, andstop and go operation of the rack. Finally, enlarging the holdingcapacity of such racks typically requires a larger base, for reasons ofstability. However enlarging the base can require a larger carton inwhich to ship such racks, thus adding to the overall cost of bringingthe product to the marketplace. Thus, there is a need for base mechanismthat provides the requisite stability for a rack yet does not require alarger shipping carton. Further, such rack should provide an option toautomatically cease rotation upon scan code recognition of a CD or otherretained object, or upon voice command from a user. Finally, it ispreferred that such rack have the ability to be electronicallydaisy-chained to other such racks.

The present invention provides such racks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the preferred embodiments, storage capacity in a rack is increased byproviding inter-connectable holders that form a rotatable loop or belt.In one embodiment, each holder can frictionally retain at least oneobject such as CD jewel case, and a multi-loop rack comprisesside-by-side loops formed of inter-connectable holders that each retaina single object. In a more preferred embodiment, each holder can retainat least two such objects in a side-by-side configuration. Thus, asingle loop of inter-connected such holders may be created in which morethan one object is retained in each holder. In either embodiment,retained objects can be viewed by a user during loop rotation, and looprotation can be halted by the user when a desired retained object isobserved. At the top (and bottom) regions of the loop rotation, theretained objects are moved through a fanout region in which they may beespecially easily removed from the halted loop, e.g., by grasping withthe user's fingers.

Each holder embodiment preferably includes first and second walls thatare retained a spaced-apart distance from each other that is sufficientto admit and frictionally retain at least a portion of at least one suchobject. To improve frictional retention, a holder-facing surface of atleast one (and preferably both) of the walls includes a projection suchas one or more projecting bumps or ridges. A holder that is sized toretain two objects will be approximately twice the width of asingle-object holder. A two-object holder can include a partition wallthat separates at least a portion of facing surfaces of two objectsretained in the holder.

Each holder further includes at least one male (or first-type)interconnect mechanism and at least one female (or second-type)interconnect mechanism. These mechanisms are formed such that the malemechanism on a first holder interlocks with an adjacent second holder'sfemale mechanism, and the female mechanism on the first-holderinterlocks with an adjacent third holder's male mechanism. The rotatableloop formed by interconnecting such holders may be said to be modular inthat loop length can be varied by adding or subtracting holders. Eachholder preferably is integrally formed as a single piece component, forexample by injection molding ABS type plastic.

The rotatable loop or loops are preferably disposed within a modularrack that includes left and right vertical supports that attached to abase member. A rack embodiment comprising separate loops formed fromsingle-object interlocked holders will include a third vertical supportintermediate the two side-by-side single-object holders. Although theloop or loops could be manually rotated, for example with a hand crankor simply by moving the holders with a hand, more preferably the loop(s)are rotatable using a single electric motor with associated drivesprockets and pulleys. In the preferred embodiments, there is a singlesprocket rotation axis near the top fanout (or turnaround) loop regionand a single sprocket rotation axis near the bottom fanout (orturnaround) loop region. However two or more parallel sprocket rotationaxes could instead be provided in either or both fanout regions. Therack supports, sprockets, pulleys are preferably made from light weightABS plastic.

The motor is operable from batteries mounted in the base member, or maybe powered from an external source. One or more user-operable controlsgoverns rotation direction and rotation speed of the loop(s) formed bythe interconnected holders. One such control preferably is located onone of the vertical support members for use by the user's hand, andpreferably equivalent controls may be disposed on the base member foruse by the user's feet.

The base member preferably has user-attachable base side-members that,when attached, enlarge the effective footprint of the overall basestructure, thus enhancing stability of the rack. However when the rackis shipped by the manufacturer, the base side members are detached,which permits shipment to occur in a smaller and less expensive shippingcarton.

The rack includes an optional light unit comprising, for example,several white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a diffuser. The lightunit can be user-attached to a fanout region of the rack, preferably anupper portion of one of the vertical side members. When the motor isenergized, the light source illuminates objects retained by the holdersfor ease of viewing and selection, and will continue to illuminate for aminute or so after motor rotation is halted by the user. Optionally thelight unit can be provided with an optical scanner that scans barcodeinformation attached to and identifying contents of objects retained bythe rack. A remote control device can be user operable to commandelectronics optionally associated with the rack to halt loop rotationwhen the scanner recognizes a barcode desired by the user, the desiredbarcode having been communicated preferably remotely by the user to theelectronics. If desired, the scanner unit could be augmented with avoice recognition system that would halt loop rotation when auser-vocalized identified object was recognized by the scanner.Alternatively, if the user were sufficiently close to the rack todirectly see the desired object, a voice command could be used to haltrack rotation to facilitate user removal of the desired object from therack. A rack may be electronically daisy-chained to one or more otherracks such that user commanded rotation of one rack causes loops in allracks to rotate.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description in which the preferred embodiments have been setforth in detail, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rack, according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed perspective view of an upper portion ofthe rack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detailed view of a lower portion of the rack ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a single object holder for the presentinvention, shown in one view;

FIG. 4A is a side view of a container retainable by the holder of FIG.4;

FIG. 5 is a perspective of the holder of FIG. 4, shown in another view;

FIG. 6A is a side elevation view illustrating several holders of FIGS. 4and 5, coupled together; FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 6A;

FIG. 7 is side elevational view illustrating the holders of FIG. 6A, asthey would be rotated around a sprocket;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a holder of FIGS. 4 and 5,as it would retained in the rack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, and has been cut away toshow the interior mechanism of the rack and its operation;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating analternative embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a holder;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a holderthat retains a CD without a jewel case;

FIG. 14A is a perspective view of a single object holder depicting analternative projecting mechanism for retaining an object, according tothe present invention;

FIG. 14B is a perspective view of a double object holder depicting apreferring projecting mechanism for retaining objects, according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 14C is a perspective view of an alternative double object holderdepicting a preferring projecting mechanism for retaining objects,according to the present invention;

FIG. 14D is a rear perspective view of a double object holder, accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 14E is a perspective view of an upper fanout region portion of aloop of interconnected double object holders such as depicted in FIG.14D, according to the present invention;

FIG. 14F is a respective view of a dual-object holder able to retain atleast two CDs without a jewel case, according to the present invention;

FIG. 15A is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a double-looprack comprising interconnected single object holders, according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 15B is a perspective skeletal view of the embodiment of FIG. 15A;

FIG. 15C is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a double-looprack comprising interconnected double object holders, according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 16A is a schematic side view depicting a rack with two rotationaxes, 25 according to the present invention;

FIG. 16B is a schematic side view depicting a rack with two rotationaxes and vertical support members that are enlarged adjacent the basemember, according to the present invention;

FIG. 16C is a schematic side view depicting a rack with three rotationaxes and vertical support members that are enlarged adjacent the basemember, according to the present invention; and

FIG. 16D is a schematic side view depicting a rack with four rotationaxes and vertical support members that are enlarged adjacent the basemember, according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tower-like rack 10 according to thepresent invention with which several containers 18 (or so-called jewelboxes) containing CDs are stored on a conveyer-like apparatus. The rackis a motorized device for retaining up to one hundred CDs in theirindividual jewel cases, using holders 32 that are linked together toform an endless belt. As described later herein, the belt oflinked-together holders can be driven by an electric motor 28 (see FIG.3).

Using appropriate controls, for example knob 37 connected to anelectrical switch (not shown) may be used to connect motor 28 windingsto DC voltage of a first polarity, an opposite second polarity, todecreased magnitude voltage of either polarity, or to no DC voltage atall. The result is to cause belt rotation in a clockwise direction(e.g., as indicated by arrows 20), in a counterclockwise direction, toreduce motor rotational speed from high to low, or to halt all movementof the belt by disconnecting operating voltage from motor 28. As shownin FIG. 1, control 37 enables a user to cause belt rotation until thedesired object (typically a CD enclosed within a jewel case container18) reaches the top region 11 of the rack (or tower), at which region(as well as at the bottom most region) the containers fan-out, whichfacilitates their manual removal from the rack by a human hand.Normally, in the vertical belt regions 13, the containers 18 areretained so closely to one another that their removal from the holderswould be difficult. However the fan-out that occurs in turnaround region11 eases user-removal of a container 18 from the rack.

Racks 10 such as depicted in FIGS. 1, 9, and 10 that rotate alinked-together loop 23 formed from holders 32 that retain only a singlecontainer 18 will be referred to herein as single loop racks. Bycontrast, rack embodiments such as shown in FIG. 15A rotatelinked-together loops 310, 320 formed from similar holders, whereas therack embodiment of FIG. 15C rotates a loop 310 formed fromlinked-together holders 150 or 150′ that can each retain two or moreobjects. Racks such as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15C will be referred toherein as multi-loop racks.

As shown in FIG. 1, the continuous belt or loop 23 formed fromlinked-together holders 32 preferably is vertically disposed between apair of opposed spaced-apart vertical supports 14 and 16, that areattached to a base 12. An alternative mounting configuration to the baseand vertical support structure shown in FIG. 1 could include affixingloop 23 for rotation against a vertical structure such as a wall.Although the preferred embodiments will be described with respect toelectric motor loop rotation, motor 28 could be replaced (or augmented)by a hand crank that a user could rotate to rotate the belt or loop. Thevarious structures depicted in FIG. 1 are preferably fabricated from aninexpensive, light weight material such as ABS-type plastic, althoughother materials maybe used.

Objects or containers 18 are releasably retained by friction or byflexible coupling with holders 32, as will be described with referenceto FIGS. 4 and 5, which depict holder 32 in further detail and withdifferent orientations. Each holder 32 includes a pair of fingers 34 and35 that are spaced-apart a distance sufficient to receive at least oneedge portion of container 18 in the slot-like space 33 formedtherebetween. Fingers 34 and 35 receive the left and right edges (orsides) of a container that is inserted into the slot-like space 33.

In the embodiments described in the parent application, the internalsurfaces of fingers 34 and 35 preferably included projections 35 a and34 b (see FIGS. 4 and 5). These arms and projections promoted receivingthe left and right edges of a container 18, which would be releasablyand frictionally retained until selected and removed from holder 32 by auser. Projections 35 a and 34 a are sized and positioned to interlockwith mating slots or depressions (e.g., slot 31 a in FIG. 4A) that areformed on the sides of container 18. Containers 18 typically aremanufactured with two such slots on the left and right side of the jewelcase (a total of four slots). The slots are formed to produce interiortabs that can retain printed information concerning the CD within thejewel case. In the present invention, mating between holder armprojections 35 a, 34 a and jewel case slots 31 a (and corresponding 31b, not shown) can provide a positive coupling between containers andholders. The somewhat flexible nature of fingers 34 and 35, holder 32preferably having been formed from ABS type plastic, further contributesto the retention of a CD jewel case.

The formation of belt 23 by snapping-together adjacent holders 32 willnow be described. In overview, each holder 32 includes hinged couplingmeans or mechanism 50 that allows adjacent holders to be flexiblycoupled to one another. In this fashion, using nothing but the holdersthemselves, a continuous loop or belt 23 of linked-together (orhinged-together) holders is formed, for example as shown in FIGS. 6A and6B. Preferably the coupling means is sufficiently flexible to permit theloop or belt thus formed to turn around on a sprocket, for example atturnaround region 11 shown at the top of FIG. 1. The use of asnap-together type coupling not only permits easy assembly of acontinuous loop or belt using nothing but the holders themselves.Further, as described later herein, a snap-together type couplingcontributes to the modular nature of rack 10 by allowing additionalholders to be added to expand the rack storage capacity.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 4 and 5, each holder 32 includesfirst and second snap together couplings 17 and 21, preferably formed onthe inward facing base surface 27 of holder 32. Preferably the firstcoupling is a male or ball type 21 and the second coupling is a socketor female type 17. As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the male couplings andthe female couplings are disposed on opposite sides of slot-like region33. Adjacent each male coupling 21 is a slot 25 that extends through theholder 32. Male type coupling 21 preferably has a curved cylindricalshape to hook or snap into a mating female socket 17 on a next adjacentholder 32 coupling.

As shown in FIG. 6B, a snapped-together male and female coupling (fromadjacent holders 32) form a hinge 50. The distal end 17 a of each femalecoupling 17 extends into the slot 25 when the male coupling 21 snapsinto the female coupling 17. Such coupling advantageously helps holders32 to be sufficiently flexibly interlinked so as to rotate around asprocket 36, e.g., as shown in FIG 7. As adjacent holders 32 rotatearound th sprocket 36 and fan out, the distal end 17 a of the femalecoupling 17 passes through the slot 25. In addition, as shown in FIGS.6A and 6B such coupling also permits adjacent holders to maintain theirphysical contiguous relationship with each other when rotated intovertical up and down portions of travel. Such close relationshipadvantageously helps rack 10 maximize storage density. Referring to FIG.5, slot 25 As described further with respect to FIG. 8, holder 32preferably includes a pair of somewhat L-shaped slideable interlocks 47that project from the inward facing surface 27 of holder 32 to definegaps or slots 42.

Referring once more to FIG. 7, the curved exterior surface of femalecoupling 17 normally is seated in the groove or valley 41 betweenadjacent teeth 37 on a sprocket 36. Such mating engagement not onlymakes effective engagement between continuous loop 23 of interlockedholders 32 and a drive sprocket 36, but advantageously promotes fan-outof holders 32 and their associated containers 18 at turnaround regions,e.g., region 11, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 7, 9 and 10. As noted, suchfanout permits a desired container 18 to be readily removed from rack 10with a user's ringers.

Referring now to FIG. 2, drive sprockets 36 and 38, which rotate on ashaft 40 journaled within vertical supports 14 and 16, are disposedwithin the upper portion of rack or tower 10 and are caused to rotate byenergizing motor 28 (see FIG. 3), e.g., by use of control 37 (see FIG.1). Use of a pair of sprockets 36 and 38 provides a balanced drive tothe continuous loop 23 formed by inter-connected holders 32. To ensuresufficient tension in the loop, customized bearing blocks that act asshims are used to mount shaft 40.

FIG. 3 provides further details of the drive system. In the parentapplication, motor 28 drove lower drive sprockets 22 and 24 through apulley arrangement 30. Motor 28, sprockets 22 and 24, and pulley 30 weredisposed near the base portion of rack 10.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, vertical side supports 14 and 16 preferablyinclude rails 44 and 46 to effectively guide and retain continuous loop23 in cooperation with the slidable interlock units 47 formed on baseside 27 of holders 32. This cooperation between rails 44, 46, interlockunits 47, and slots 42 is best seen in FIG. 8. Together these componentsfacilitate retained vertical up or down sliding travel of holders 32within vertical supports 14 and 16. As shown in FIG. 2, rails 46 and 44terminate before upper turnaround region 11 (and also terminate near thebottom turnaround region) to facilitate installation of bearing blocks,or other mechanism to adjust tension in loop 23.

FIG. 9 depicts the interior of rack 10 and shows elements depicted inFIGS. 2 and 3. Using control 37, the user will cause belt 23 to rotateuntil a desired object 18, e.g., a jewel case, is moved to upper region11, whereat a fanout of the retained jewel cases occurs. The user thenstops belt rotation with control 37, e.g., by interrupting flow ofoperating power to motor 28, whereupon the desired jewel case 18 (and CDwithin) are easily removed from the holder in region 11, with the user'sfingers.

As noted earlier, belt 23 may be varied in length by adding orsubtracting inter-lockable holders 32. FIG. 10 depicts an modularembodiment of rack 10, in which left and right vertical support members14 and 16 are modular, and comprise, for example, vertical supportsegments 16′a, 16′b, and 16′c. A rack 10 comprising a great manyinterlocked holders 32 might include more vertical segments 16 a, 16, 16c, to lengthen the rack height to accommodate the increased length ofbelt 23.

Finally, to further automate selection of CDs, a bar code strip may beattached to each container 18. A bar code reader can be included withrack such that each bar code strip is read as the jewel cases 18 arerotated. Upon recognizing a user-desired CD selection by its bar code,rotation of belt 23 can be halted automatically by the bar code reader,whereupon the desired CD and its jewel case can be removed, preferablyfrom fanout region 11 near the top of rack 10.

FIG. 11 depicts a holder 32′ that can increase CD holding capacity for arack, according to the present invention, by omitting the jewel cases.Holder 32′ provides a substantially square housing into which a compactdisc 15 may be inserted, without a jewel case. The bare CD is retainedwithin holder 32′ by frictional fingers 51. The bottom of holders 32′include couplings 17′, 21′, which may be the same as couplings 17, 21described earlier herein for holders 32. Since holders 32′ need not beas thick or as durable as commercial CD jewel cases, the thickness ofholder 32′ may be less than half the thickness of a standard CD jewelcase. Thus, for a given rack heights, the use of holders 32′ wouldpermit storing perhaps two hundred fifty CDs, as contrasted to perhapsone hundred jewel case enclosed CDs for the embodiment of FIG. 1.

In addition to holding a CD, as shown in the cross-section of FIG. 12,holder 32′ also provides a slotted space that may be used forpromotional printed literature 52, e.g., a written description of theretained CD. Advantageously, holder 32′ may be provided with a feltwiper 53 to wipe dust from a CD 15 retained within the holder.Preferably holders 32′ are transparent such that the retained CD or anyretained written description can be viewed to assist the user in makinga selection.

FIG. 13 depicts an even more compact holder 32″, which is pie shaped andincludes couplings 17″ and 21″ that can interlock with other suchcouplings on an adjacent holder 32′ to form a continuous loop of holders32″. A friction-type hub 54 is formed near the center of holder 32″ andis sized to engage and retain the central aperture of a CD 15 to beretained by the holder. Friction hub 54 may be formed on one or bothsurfaces of holder 32′, to accommodate retaining, respectively, one ortwo CDs per holder. Although holder 32″ provides minimal protection ofretained CDs, the holder thickness is reduced to a minimum, which cancontribute to even greater storage capacity for a rack of a givenheight.

Turning now to FIGS. 14A and 14B, improved jewel case holders aredepicted. Holder 32 in FIG. 14A in many ways is similar to holder 32 asdepicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, except that side projections 35 a and 34 aare replaced with projecting bumps or ridges 100A and 100B. Ridges 100Aand 100B are formed on the inner, jewel-case facing, surface of upperand lower holder walls 120A and 120B. These ridges preferably areinjection molded when holder 32 is fabricated and frictionally retainthe projecting ridge that is formed on the perimeter of CD jewel cases.The ridges may be formed as a series of separate bump-like projections,and/or as continuous projections. In FIG. 14A, ridges 100A and 100B aresetback a distance D1 of about 0.275″ from the inner surface of rearwall 130 of the holder, have a length L1 of about 0.3″ and have amaximum vertical projection of about 0.07″. In cross-section the ridgeshave a somewhat half-circle smoothed profile. Ridges 100A, 100B need notbe formed as continuous projections, and may instead be formed as one ormore separate bump-like projections. Regardless of their specificconfiguration, projections or ridges 100A and 100B help frictionallyretain a jewel case within holder 32, even if the jewel case is insertedupside down. By contrast, the configuration of FIG. 4 a required jewelcases to be properly aligned because recesses 31 a with which holderprojections 35 a and 34 a mated were formed only on the edges of thejewel case closet to the hinged jewel case lid. Other ridgeconfigurations and/or positions could instead be used, and indeedprojections or ridges 100A, 100B could be replaced with strips of rubberor other material to help frictionally retain a jewel case inserted intoholder 32.

Rack 10 as depicted in FIG. 1 provided a single continuous belt or loop23 of holders. Various embodiments of the present invention are directedto a dual loop rack that can provide two or more continuous belts orloops of interconnected holders. FIG. 14B depicts a preferred embodimentof a holder 150 that can retain in a side-by-side configuration two CDs15, each CD in its own jewel case 18. Many aspects of holder 150 aresimilar to holder 32 depicted in FIGS. 4-8. Holder 150 includes upperand lower walls 160 and 170 that are joined, at least partially, to arear wall 130. Preferably inner surface regions of the upper and lowerwalls include projecting ridges 100A and 100B that may be sized anddisposed as described above with respect to FIG. 14A. Holder 150 furtherincludes a partition sidewall 180 that joins at least a portion offupper and lower walls 160 and 170, and preferably includes left andright outer sidewalls 190 and 200. As was the case with holder 32 asshown in FIGS. 4-8 and 14A, preferably outer sidewalls 190 and 200 flareoutwardly to help the user guide a CD jewel case into the retainingspace 33 defined by the holder.

As will be described later herein, adjacent holders 150 are linkedtogether similarly to the manner in which holders 32 (as depicted inFIGS. 4-8 ) were inter-connected. Thus, a preferably rear portion ofholders 150 will include at least one male coupling 21 and at least onefemale coupling 17, which couplings 17 and 21 may be the same as thosedescribed earlier herein. By way of example, each half-section of holder150 depicted in FIG. 14B has two couplings 17 and two couplings 21,although more or fewer than two couplings each could be employed. Slots19 shown in FIG. 14B are, as before, artifacts associated with thecasting of holder 150. The rear wall 130 of holder 150 includes twoL-shaped slideable interlocks 47 that project from the inward facingsurface 27 of wall 130 to define gaps or slots 42, similarly to what isshown in FIG. 8 for holder 32.

FIG. 14C depicts another embodiment of a holder 150′ that can retainmore than one CD jewel case (or other object). The embodiment shown issimilar to that of FIG. 14A in that two jewel cases are retained in aside-by-side configuration. It is noted; however, that the configurationof FIG. 14C provides a single coupling 17 and a single coupling 21 foreach half of the holder, as contrasted with FIG. 14B in which more thanone coupling pair was disposed on each holder half.

FIG. 14D is a rear perspective view of holder 150′ as shown in FIG. 14C,and but for the number of couplings 17 and 21 could also serve as a rearperspective view of holder 150, as shown in FIG. 14B. An optional dorsalfin like member 210 may be provided on the rear wall 130 of holder 150′or 150 to aid in retaining alignment in cooperation with the driven cogsthat rotate a belt formed of holders 150′ or 150, linked-together bycouplings 17 and 21. Slot pairs 220 show on rear surface 130 of holder150′ (or 150) are so-called core-through slots that are present toremove plastic from the region of the cast projections duringmanufacture of the holders.

Dual jewel case holders 150 or 150′ will be approximately twice as wideas single jewel case holders 32, and will thus measure approximately 10″across and be approximately 0.5″ tall (excluding the height of couplings17 ). As is seen from FIG. 14C, it is not required that left and rightsidewalls (or arms) 190, 200 extend very far along the sides of aretained jewel case. Indeed, if desired one might substantiallyeliminate sidewalls 190 and 200 and rely upon the inner surface of thevertical support members (e.g., 14 and 16 in FIG. 1) to help retard aretained jewel case against unintentional disconnection from a holder.However even with sidewalls 190,200 that project out 2″ or so, a dualjewel case holder 150 or 150′ will weigh less than about 1.5 oz. As withholders 32, 150 or 150′ it is preferred that the holders are injectionmolded plastic, e.g. ABS type plastic, and that the entire holder isintegrally formed as a single component, rather than as a partialcomponent to which couplings 17 and/or 21 may later be affixed, or towhich projections 47 may later be affixed.

FIG. 14E depicts several inter-connected holders 150′ as they mightappear at the upper fanout region 11 of a loop on a rack, according tothe present invention. As with other holders described herein,interlocking or interconnection results from cooperation between malemechanisms 21 formed on one holder matingly attaching with a femalemechanism 17 on an adjacent holder. As described earlier herein,preferably L-shaped slideable interlock projections 47 (with attendantgaps 42) preferably are formed on holder 150′, which projectionscooperate with rails 44 and 46 formed on vertical side supports 14, 16during loop to-help main proper loop disposition in the rack. As such,what is shown and described with respect to FIGS. 6-8 is also applicableto the various dual-object holder configurations.

As shown by FIG. 14F, a dual-object (or indeed four-object) holder maybe provided that does not require jewel cases. FIG. 14F depicts a holder32″, each half of which can be similar to what was depicted anddescribed with respect to FIG. 13. If hub projections 54 are formed oneach side of holder 32″, it is apparent that a single holder 32″ couldretain four CDs 15, without requiring that the CDs themselves be injewel cases. Understandable a multiloop rack 300 or 300≧(see FIGS.15A-15C) comprising inter-connected holders as shown in FIG. 14F canhave a very large CD retaining capacity.

FIGS. 15A and 15B show a first embodiment of a dual-belt tower or rack300 that provides two rotatable continuous loops or belts 310, 320comprised of linked-together holders 32, for example holder 32 as shownin FIG. 14A, or holder 32 as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. In the rackconfiguration of FIGS. 15A, 15B, and 15C, loop rotation is about twoaxes: about rod shaft 40 near the loop upper fanout region 11, and aboutrod shaft 26 adjacent the loop lower fanout region. Preferably shafts 40and 26 are made of met at for reasons of strength, whereas nearly all ofthe remaining components comprising rack 300 are preferably injectionmolded ABS-type plastic. In FIG. 15A, for ease of illustrating the drivemechanism, relatively few holder 32 retained jewel cases 18 are shown onloop 320. In this embodiment, loop 310 is comprised of inter-connectedsingle jewel case retaining holders 32, and loop 320 is comprised ofdifferent inter-connected single jewel case retaining holders 32.

Rack 300 includes left and right vertical support members 330 and 340and a central support member 350. These three support members areattached to a central base portion 360, for example by joining withsections 370 that project upward from portion 360. Dual-belt tower 300can retain approximately twice as many CDs (e.g., CDs or other items injewel cases) than single-belt tower 10 shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly,dual-belt tower 300 should have a larger effective base area (or“footprint”) to promote stability and reduce the likelihood of the towertoppling over. For a tower height of perhaps 38″, central base portion360 will measure perhaps 8″×16″. To provide a footprint that is largerthan that of the base portion, outrigger-like side base projections 380′are attached to the sides of the base portion. The side base projectionsmeasure perhaps 2″ side by 12″ long and, for the exemplary dimensionsgiven, will provide an effective footprint of about 12″×16″ versus8″×16″ for the central base portion alone.

As best seen in FIG. 15B, side base projections 380 preferably areremovably attached to central base portion 360, for example by formingthe side base projections with grooves that connect to projectionsformed in the mating portion of main base member 350. Other mechanicalfeatures maybe formed in the central base portion and side baseprojections to permit interlocking, or interlocking can be accomplishedusing attachment mechanisms such as screws, wing nuts, or the like.

The advantage of providing user-attachable side base projections toincrease the effective footprint of rack 300 is that with the side baseprojections detached, the rack (and side base portions) can be shippedin a smaller carton. The base cross-sectional area of the carton issubstantially reduced to where the savings in the cost of a high qualitycardboard carton with indicia printed on the box sides can exceed 10%.

Central base portion 360 preferably includes a compartment for batteriesB1 that can power motor 28, and optionally includes electronics 390associated with an optional barcode scanning system 400 disposed in aclip-on type lamp unit 410 that includes a light source 420, for exampleat least one light emitting diode (LED). Lamp unit 410 attaches to acircular region at the upper portion of vertical support member 330,which region can be similar in size to the region to which control 37 isattached at the upper portion of vertical support member 340. Electricalcontacts 430 in the base portion of unit 410 mate with contacts 440 invertical support member 330. If no lamp unit is provided, the otherwiseopen circular region in the upper portion of member 330 can be pluggedwith a circular knob, similar to control 37. Electrical wiring or tracesinterconnecting lamp unit 410 to power source B1 (or external powerprovided via input jack J1) and, if present, to circuit 390 are disposedin or on the interior surface of vertical support member 330.

In a preferred embodiment, unit 410 includes at least light source 420,which illuminates whenever belts 310 and 320 are rotated, e.g., bysingle motor 28, and remains on for a brief time thereafter, perhaps aminute. The resultant illumination permits user selection of CDs as theyreach the fanout region 11, even if rack 300 is used in a dimly litroom.

Optionally jewel cases 18 may carry barcode information 450 that canidentify the CD contents. Barcode information 450 may be created by theuser, or by the CD manufacturer. A barcode scanner unit 400 preferablydisposed within unit 410 can read barcodes 450 as the jewel cases arerotated into fanout region 11.

An optional handheld remote unit 460 includes keys 470, a power source480 and an output transducer 490, and permits a user to causeelectronics 390 (or at least a portion of the electronics) to recognizea user-desired barcode 450 when scanned by unit 400. Unit 460 cantransmit desired barcode information to rack 300 using, withoutlimitation, ultra sound, radio frequency, infra red transmissions. Anappropriate sensor (SENS) detects the transmitted information, which iscoupled to electronics 390. A user desiring to select a certain CD, aparticular song, or perhaps a particular digital data base, or asoftware routine can input on remote unit 460 the appropriateidentifying information, which is then transmitted to the sensor (SENS).As the two belts 310, 320 rotate, scan codes carried by any jewel caseswithin scan range of unit 400 are identified by unit 410, andelectronics 390 can cause motor 28 to cease rotation. If desired,cessation of motor rotation can be intentionally delayed by electronics390, to permit belt rotation to bring the desired jewel case to a morevertically upright disposition, e.g., case 18′ in FIG. 15A. Remote unit460 may be a modified or unmodified generic control such as used on TVsand VCRs, or it may be an IR or Bluetooth-compliant PDA or laptop ordesktop computer. Rather than manually key in the barcode per se,preferably remote unit 460 can transmit an abbreviated code thatrepresents the full barcode of the desired CD.

In addition or alternatively, electronics 390 can be designed torecognize certain vocal commands enunciated by a user and detected by amodified sensors (SEN), e.g., “stop”, “go”, “reverse”, “faster” and“slower”. In this fashion, a user who is not sufficiently close to arack according to the present invention to operate control 37, 37′, or37″ but is sufficiently close to recognize when a desired objectapproaches the upper fanout region 11 can vocally command the rack tohalt loop rotation.

Both loops 310 and 320 are simultaneously rotated in rack 300 by asingle motor 28 that can be identical to motor 28 as shown in FIG. 3 or9. The various drive sprockets and pulley assembly configurations shownin FIGS. 3 and 9 are preferably also used for the dual loopconfiguration of FIGS. 15A and 15B. One difference is that the length ofdriven shaft 40 is increased to drive two rather than one continuousbelt of linked-together holders 32, and there will be a pair of drivensprockets 22 and 24 at the lower region of belt 310 and belt 320, andthere will be a pair of driven sprockets 36 and 38 at the upper fanoutregions 11 of belt 310 and belt 320. In rack 10, motor 28 was disposedin a lower portion of the rack housing. However in rack 300, it ispreferred that the single motor 28 be disposed adjacent the upperportion of the rack housing. Mounting motor 28 in an upper portion ofrack 300 seems to reduce sag or droop in loops 310, 320 formed byinterlocking holders 32. As a result of reduced sag, there is lesslikelihood that the loops will disengage themselves from drivensprockets 36 and 38, for example due to the weight of holders 32,including CD jewel cases 18, and CDs 15 within the jewel cases.

Motor 28 preferably is about 25 mm diameter and can be driven by 12 VDC,provided by batteries B1 disposed in the central base portion 350, wheretheir weight contributes to a lowered center of gravity for the overallrack. Six 1.5 VDC D cells may be used to power rack 300, or, an externalpower source can provide operating potential via an input power jack J1.In the preferred embodiment, control 37 engages a spring loaded rotaryswitch S1. In a neutral position, S1 disconnects operating power frommotor 28. When S1 is twisted one position clockwise, loops 310, 320begin to rotate in a first direction, and when S1 is twisted withcontrol 37 further clockwise, rotation of the loops slows. When control37 twists S1 one position counterclockwise, loops 310, 320 rotate in theopposite direction, and when further twisted counter-clockwise, beltrotations in that direction slows. When the user releases control 37, S1is spring-biased to an off position, and all belt rotation ceases, andif unit 410 is present, LEDs 420 will cease illumination a brief timeafter rotation ceases. If desired, foot-operable controls such as 37′,37″ may be used in addition to or instead of control 37, to directrotation and rotation speed of the loops in rack 300. Motor speed anddirection is preferably user-controlled by controlling polarity ofvoltage from source B1 coupled to the motor, and magnitude of suchvoltage.

Thus, control 37 (or foot control(s) 37′, 37″) governs operation ofdual-loop rack 300 in a similar fashion as operation of single-loop rack10 (as shown in FIG. 1). As a jewel box 18 containing a desired CD 15 ismoved on belt 310 or 320 to the fanout position 11 at the upper portionof rack 300, the user will halt rotation of motor 28 to halt beltrotation. The user may now remove the desired jewel case(s) from rack300.

FIG. 15B is a partial skeletal view of rack 300, showing only two of theperhaps two hundred linkable holders 32 normally found on rack 300. FIG.15 depicts internal struts 500 that are used to secure vertical members330, 340, and 350 to each other. As noted, during manufacture andperhaps on rare occasion thereafter it may be necessary to adjust thetension in loops 310, 320. Those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe use of shims or bearing blocks such as 510 area convenient mechanismfor accomplishing such adjustments. In the preferred embodiment, theleft and right distal ends of the lengthened rotatable shaft 40 areretained in concave projecting regions 520 of left and right bearingblock units 510. The concave region 520 of each bearing block unit 510captures the distal end of shaft 40, and may be moved vertically up ordown to increase or to decrease tension in the loops formed by theinterconnected holders 32. An outwardly facing projection 530 on eachbearing block unit fits through a slot 540 formed in an out verticalsupport member 330, 340. Thus, vertical up or down movement ofprojection 530 increases or decreases belt tension. Once the desiredtension is achieved, the desired vertical position of projection 530 issecured, for example by screws 550 that anchor bearing block 510 to anadjacent outer vertical support member 330 or 340. As noted, however,many other techniques are known in the art for adjusting, if needed,tension in a belt, and what is described above is exemplary.

As was described with respect to FIGS. 14B-14D, a preferred embodimentof a holder 150 or 150′ is sized to hold at least two objects 18 in aside-by-side configuration. If desired the width of holders 150, 150′could be increased to retain three or more objects, in which casepreferably two rather than one partition sidewall 180 would be used. Thepartition sidewall preferably is joined, at least in part, to portionsof the spaced-apart upper and lower walls 160 and 170 of holder 150,150′. Thus, a holder 150, 150′ able to retain three CD jewel boxes 18preferably would have two partition sidewalls 180 disposed to separateotherwise adjacent sides of the jewel cases. Similarly, just as theholder configuration of FIG. 13 can be replicated twice to yield holder32″ such as depicted in FIG. 14F, the holder configuration of FIG. 13could also be replicated three or more times to retain three or more CDsin a side-by-side configuration. If desired, forming hub projections 54on each surface of the holder would permit a single holder to hold sixCDs (or more, if more side-by-side holder replications are provided). Aswith the various other holder embodiments described herein, preferablysuch holders would be unitarily formed as a single piece of material,preferably by injection molding ABS type plastic.

FIG. 15C depicts a preferred rack embodiment 300′ that uses a singlemotor 28 to rotate loops 310, 320, wherein both loops are formed from aplurality of dual-object holders 150, 150′, such as depicted in FIGS.14B-14D. The various drive sprockets, gears, pulley and drive systemsdescribed with respect to FIGS. 1-3, 6A, 6B, 7, 8, 9, 15A and 15B arealso applicable to rack 300′. Motor 28, which preferably is mounted inan upper region of the rack to reduce the effects of sag on the loopsformed by holders 150, 150′ and their contents, causes rotation of uppershaft 40 in response to user operation of control 37, and/or 37′, 37″,or remote unit 460. Preferably rack 300′ can be provided with unit 410,which can illuminate the upper fanout region 11 of the rack, and incooperation with electronics 390 can provide scanning of barcodes 450 onobjects 18 retains by the dual-object holders 150, 150′. As describedearlier, electronics 390 and sensor SENS can also be used to implementvoice command operation of loop movement, e.g., direction, speed,halting. Preferably rack 300′ is provided with detachable side basemembers 380 to permit shipping the rack in a smaller carton than wouldbe possible if the actual rack base dimensions approximated theeffective footprint of rack 300′.

Although the various preferred embodiments of a rack depicts jewel casecontainers 18 containing a CD 15, as indicated in the upper most portionof FIG. 15C, a container 18 can retain other than a CD. Thus, container18 may contain, for example, a baseball trading card 15′ or othermemorabilia. Understandably a rack intended to retain baseball tradingcards could utilize holders 32, 150, 150′ that preferably were scaleddown in size to retain objects smaller than CD jewel boxes.

Referring to the schematic diagram of FIG. 16A, while the preferredembodiments of a single or a multi-loop rack provide a single rotationaxis 40 near the loop upper fanout region, and a single rotation axis 26near the loop lower fanout region, other configurations are possible. InFIG. 16A (and indeed in FIGS. 16B-16D), sprockets 38 and 24 (or 24′) aredepicted as, circles for ease of illustration. In these figures, 560denotes a simplified locus of the loop path, the loop being formed frominterconnected holders such as 32 or 150 or 150′. Note that thepreferably vertical spaced-apart distance between axes 40 and 26 in FIG.16A is approximately half the length of the loop formed by theinter-connected holders. As noted elsewhere herein, the mating betweenmale holder interconnect mechanisms 21 and female holder interconnectmechanisms 17 is sufficiently flexible to enable the resultant loop tochange direction about sprockets 38 and 24 in the upper and lower fanoutregions.

The configuration of FIG. 16B is similar to that of FIG. 16A except thatthe vertical side members 340′ are broadened at the base to present asomewhat elongated triangular configuration, as contrasted with thesomewhat rectangular configuration shown in FIG. 16A (and indeed inFIGS. 1, 9, 10, 15A-15C.

If desired a plurality of single or multi-loop racks, according to thepresent invention, may be daisy-chained such that user operation of onerack can command rotation of one or more additional racks. As shown inFIGS. 16A and 16B, the communication link 570 between the racks can be aphysical cable, for example connecting communication jacks J2 on eachrack, or the communication link 570 can be wireless, for exampleBluetooth-compatible RF, detected and signal processed by electronics390 in each rack. In a daisy-chained environment, the user could controla master rack with control 37, 37′, 37″, or control remotely usingdevice 460. Each rack preferably would include a scan unit 400 and whileall racks would rotate their respective loop(s) together, as soon as ascanned object was detected by any rack, loop rotation would cease forthat rack. Alternatively, as soon as a user observed a desired objectapproaching the upper fanout region of a rack, cessation of looprotation for that rack could be user-commanded. If desired,daisy-chaining could be such that when one rack ceases loop rotation,all racks cease loop rotation.

Although the preferred embodiments have been described with regard toproducing loop rotation by means of an electric motor, it will beappreciated that a loop formed by inter-connected singleobject-retaining or multiple-object retaining holders could instead bemanually rotated. For example, a crankshaft-like member could beattached to upper rotation shaft 40 to directly rotate the shaftmanually. Such crankshaft could project out from the left or right upperportion of a vertical support member. In another embodiment, acontinuous loop formed from inter-connected holders according to thepresent invention might be disposed about two rotation shafts projectingout from a wall or display board. Aside from upper and lower rotationsprockets, no other structure would be required, and the user couldsimply manually rotate the loop. Such embodiment might be useful as partof a store display of merchandise retained by single or multi-objectholders.

Modifications and variations may be made to the disclosed embodimentswithout departing from the subject and spirit of the invention asdefined by the following claims.

1. A holder that can hold CD cases and cases for other items and usableto create a continuous loop formed by interlocking adjacent suchholders, the holder comprising: a base having a holder engagingmechanism extending therefrom and said holder engaging mechanism adaptedto engage an adjacent holder in order to form the continuous loop; saidholder including first and second outer sidewalls and a partitionsidewall located between the first and second outer sidewalls, with saidfirst outer sidewall and said partition sidewall with said base defininga first space adapted to receive a first case, and with said secondouter sidewall and said partition sidewall with said base defining asecond space adapted to receive a second case; wherein said holderincludes at least a first member which is adapted to frictionally retaina first case in said first space, and at least a second member which isadapted to frictionally retain a second case in said second space; andwherein said holder engaging mechanism includes: a first holder-engagingmechanism including a slot located adjacent thereto; a secondholder-engaging mechanism having a distal end extending out from thebase; and wherein said first holder-engaging mechanism on said holder isadapted to interlock with a second holder-engaging mechanism of a secondsaid holder, and said second holder-engaging mechanism on said holder isadapted to interlock with a first holder-engaging mechanism on a thirdholder to form a continuous loop.
 2. The holder of claim 1 furtherincluding: said first member is a first bump which extends from saidbase in said first space; and said second member is a second bump whichextends from said base in said second space.
 3. The holder of claim 1further including: said first member is a pair of lower walls whichextend from said base in said first space; and said second member is apair of lower walls which extend from said base in said second space. 4.The holder of claim 1 wherein: the first holder-engaging mechanism is amale mechanism; the second holder-engaging mechanism is a femalemechanism.
 5. A holder usable to create a continuous loop formed byinterlocking adjacent such holders, the holder comprising: a base havinga first holder-engaging mechanism extending out from the base with aslot located adjacent thereto and a second holder-engaging mechanismextending out from the base and having a distal end, which distal end isshaped and adapted in order to be received in a slot of a second holder;at least three fingers extending from the base adapted to retain atleast a portion of a first object and a second object; wherein thefingers are defined between an upper wall and a lower wall; and whereinsaid first holder-engaging mechanism on said holder is adapted tointerlock with a second holder-engaging mechanism of a second saidholder, and said second holder-engaging mechanism on said holder isadapted to interlock with a first holder-engaging mechanism on a thirdholder to form a continuous loop.
 6. The holder of claim 5 wherein: thefingers are defined there between a first space and a second space. 7.The holder of claim 5 further including: at least one pair ofprojections adapted to frictionally engage the objects.
 8. The holder ofclaim 5 wherein: the first holder-engaging mechanism is a malemechanism; and the second holder-engaging mechanism is a femalemechanism.
 9. The holder of claim 5 wherein: said first holder-engagingmechanism on said holder is adapted to nest in the secondholder-engaging mechanism of the second said holder, and said secondholder-engaging mechanism on said holder is adapted to have the firstholder-engaging mechanism on the third holder nest in the secondholder-engaging mechanism said holder to form a continuous loop.
 10. Theholder of claim 5 wherein: the distal end of the second holder-engagingmechanism of the second said holder can pass through said slot locatedadjacent to the first holder-engaging mechanism of said holder to whichthe second holder-engaging mechanism is inserted to allow the secondsaid holder to spread apart from said holder.
 11. A holder usable tocreate a continuous loop formed by interlocking adjacent such holders,the holder comprising: a base having an interior surface, the interiorsurface having a first holder-engaging mechanism extending there fromwith a slot located adjacent thereto and a second holder-engagingmechanism extending from the interior surface having a distal end, whichdistal end is shaped and adapted in order to be received in a slot of asecond holder; a first spaced defined between a first wall and a secondwall; a second space defined between the second wall and a third wall;wherein the spaces are adapted to retain an object therein; and whereinsaid first holder-engaging mechanism on said holder is adapted tointerlock with a second holder-engaging mechanism of a second saidholder, and said second holder-engaging mechanism on said holder isadapted to interlock with a first holder-engaging mechanism on a thirdholder to form a continuous loop.
 12. The holder of claim 11 furtherincluding: at least one projection adapted to frictionally engage atleast one object in the first space and the second space.
 13. The holderof claim 11 wherein: the first holder-engaging mechanism is a malemechanism; and the second holder-engaging mechanism is a femalemechanism.
 14. The holder of claim 11 wherein: said firstholder-engaging mechanism on said holder is adapted to nest in thesecond holder-engaging mechanism of the second said holder, and saidsecond holder-engaging mechanism on said holder is adapted to have thefirst holder-engaging mechanism on the third holder nest in the secondholder-engaging mechanism said holder to form a continuous loop.
 15. Theholder of claim 11 wherein: the distal end of the second holder-engagingmechanism of the second said holder can pass through said slot locatedadjacent to the first holder-engaging mechanism of said holder to whichthe second holder-engaging mechanism is inserted to allow the secondsaid holder to spread apart from said holder.
 16. A holder usable tocreate a continuous loop formed by interlocking adjacent such holders,the holder comprising: a base having an interior surface having aholder-engaging mechanism to interlock adjacent holders; a first fingerand a partition extending from the base adapted to retain at least aportion of a first object; a second finger with the partition extendingfrom the base adapted to retain at least a portion of a second object;and wherein the holder-engaging mechanism includes: a firstholder-engaging extending from the interior surface; a secondholder-engaging mechanism having a distal end extending from theinterior surface; and wherein said first holder-engaging mechanism onsaid holder is adapted to interlock with a second holder-engagingmechanism of a second said holder, and said second holder-engagingmechanism on said holder is adapted to interlock with a firstholder-engaging mechanism on a third holder to form a continuous loop.17. The holder of claim 16 further including: at least one projectionadapted to frictionally engage the objects.
 18. The holder of claim 16wherein: the first holder-engaging mechanism is a male mechanism; andthe second holder-engaging mechanism is a female mechanism.
 19. Theholder of claim 16 wherein: said first holder-engaging mechanism on saidholder is adapted to nest in the second holder-engaging mechanism of thesecond said holder, and said second holder-engaging mechanism on saidholder is adapted to have the first holder-engaging mechanism on thethird holder nest in the second holder-engaging mechanism said holder toform a continuous loop.
 20. The holder of claim 16 wherein said holderengaging mechanism includes: wherein the distal end of the secondholder-engaging mechanism of the second said holder can pass throughsaid slot located adjacent to the first holder-engaging mechanism ofsaid holder to which the second holder-engaging mechanism is inserted toallow the second said holder to spread apart from said holder.